Modern medicine simply defines health as a lack of disease, injury, or pain, but it’s much more than that.
One of the reasons that Ayurveda still inspires me to this day is its broad definition of health, which is:
“Samadosha Samagnischa Samadhatumala kriyaha
Prasanna atmenindriya manaha Swasthya ityabhidheeyate”
That Sanskrit phrase is quoted from one of Ayurveda’s ancient texts the Sushruta Samhita, which was written by India’s first surgeon in 600BC.
It defines a healthy person as someone whose doshas (vata, pitta, and kapha) are all in equilibrium, the digestive fire (agni) is in a balanced state (sama), in addition to the body’s tissues (dhatus) and wastes (malas) also being in balance. The quote also states that the mind (mana) and sensory organs (indriyas) as well as a person’s spirit/soul (atma) must be also in a pleasant state (prasanna). When a person is balanced in all of those areas, he or she is considered healthy by Ayurvedic standards. Continue reading